Critics accused the movement of being unfocused – yet by refusing to be bound by narrow demands, the protesters were able

to draw attention to the real underlying question: We are still a young country. We can still mold ourselves in our own model. What kind of a society do we want to be? Powers-that-be may try to confuse us with the old slogans and guilt us into a false unity based on external threats, as if these threats are the excuse for government corruption and economic exploitation. But this movement will be ultimately successful if we refuse to be distracted and if we all continue to speak, argue and dream in the new language, even if we’re only slowly learning to speak it. In the summer of 2011, a majority of the public came to realize that we Israelis really can create a society that isn’t bound by jingoistic legislation, guilt and fear, but is rather united by compassionate social welfare and the values of decency and interdependence.